Living In Nature through Poems

In this season of strange pandemic living I have learned several things about myself. That is a good thing, I think, and I hope you are also experiencing something similar through this strange time. One thing I have learned is that I love nature more than I even thought I did - trees, plants, flowers, clouds, sky, moon, comets, stars, etc. (Have you been noticing all the wonderful images of the visiting Comet Neowise?)

It is interesting because it is not that I am out in nature more - in fact, it is quite the opposite - I am out exploring nature less right now and in recent months (during the summer the heat and humidity is unbearable). I missed my trip to the UK this spring (thanks, Coronavirus) where I usually spend a lot of time outside in gardens and on long walks to get everywhere. I have not been to the North Carolina mountains in more than a year, which is another dose of the woods and mountains. So, as a result, I am spending more time at home, inside.

I think that is precisely why I love nature even more - because I miss it so much in the ways that I enjoy it the most. More pronounced is my enjoyment and appreciation of it. Until I can travel again safely, it is now only in my imagination that I can experience the nature that fills me, since this summer season is too hot here in the tropic south. But I do notice the beauty that is present here. Often in my still moments, I sit at my big window in my living room watching the camphor tree limbs grow by the minute and the vibrant leaves dance in the breezes.

I came across this book a month or so ago - A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year. I have loved reading a different poem each day, with poetic words to immerse me in nature. I love poetry anyway, and am always drawn to nature poetry, so this is just a great resource for poems on nature. It is a little encyclopedia of nature poems. It includes many that I know, from Gerard Manley Hopkins, John Keats, W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson for example, and many that I have not read, such as Rudyard Kipling and W.H. Davies who wrote some lovely verses.

I read today's poem, below. Click to listen to me read this lovely poem by John Keats.

Muddy Musings · On the Grasshopper and the Cricket, John Keats

Discovering Tolkien's Lost Chaucer

Chaucer was part of Tolkien's mental furniture, so to speak, that he spent a lifetime rearranging. 
(pg. 3)

I find that I have been reading too many books quickly to keep up with sharing about them. Maybe I shall catch up at some point, but one book I have been reading for several weeks now (it is certainly more of an academic book) is Tolkien's Lost Chaucer, which was published more recently (2019) by Oxford University Press.

Naturally, I was intrigued when I ran across this new book on Tolkien, especially concerning something I had never associated him with before, Geoffrey Chaucer (born 1343). Chaucer, of course, known for The Canterbury Tales, a book of stories told by pilgrims who set off from a pub in London on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. On their journey, they each have to tell an interesting tale. 

Being that I read The Canterbury Tales a couple years ago in full for the first time, and then subsequently stayed in Canterbury shortly thereafter, visiting the cathedral and staying on the Canterbury Cathedral grounds,  I readily accept how providential it is that I come across certain books and authors at certain times and somehow engage with the book, the author, the place, and the background in unique ways that help me grasp a true appreciation of it all.

In walks this book by John M. Bowers, which explores the work that Tolkien did during the 1920's on a Clarendon edition (of Oxford University Press) Selections from Chaucer's Poetry and Prose, though the book was never completed and never published. Tolkien wrote 160 pages of commentary which reveals a lot of his thoughts and ideas of storytelling and language. This was written at a time before he wrote any Middle-earth history, and I am most thoroughly enjoying how the author shows how his commentary on Chaucer is revealed in his later writings in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, the greater tales of Middle-earth, his essays, his translations, etc.

For me, it is deeply interesting to learn about favourite authors, and how and where they gather their inspiration from. Most prominently, it is from all the stories and legends they ever read, built upon one another in a new perspective of story and myth. "Tolkien well understood how his stories grew 'out of all that has been seen or thought or read', that has long ago been forgotten, descending into the deeps."

This book goes through the process from the early explanation of how this project came into Tolkien's life, how he wrote and edited it (including several photographs of his handwritten commentary, notes, and edits), and the collaborators involved (including C.S. Lewis, who was not a collaborator on the project, but who was a significant part of Tolkien's literary process, and who was an expert on medieval works).

I already knew how detailed and intricate Tolkien's attention and writing was. No word was solitary, it had an etymology, a meaning, and when he wrote commentary he commented on such things, just as he would his own writing. He was a quick-starter, and had trouble completing projects because of this. He would get caught in the details of something rather minor (to most of us). He tended to write more than what was asked of him, and he would be asked to edit it down, but he found that the notes were too important to remove. He was a niggler, always tweaking and altering something because it was never quite perfect. He was the character Niggle in the short story he wrote much later, "Leaf by Niggle". Always working on that perfectly painted leaf that would never be completed because it was never perfect enough. 

It was not Tolkien's fault that the Clarendon Chaucer edition was never published; there were other factors at play, including other folks who did not complete their part to get it finalized. Tolkien grew frustrated at times when his part was finished but the project failed to move forward. It is interesting to see how for various reasons it kept getting pushed out, and seemed to be missing that piece or person to push it forward. Perhaps it is a lesson learned that in collaboration, we need a group of people who fill the different gaps of personality - quick-starter, driver, detail-oriented, finisher, etc so that each trait that each participate is gifted with can be used to complete the project.

Waves of the Sky

Waves of the Sky

The waves are white-capped,
dropping into grey ombre, every shade,
a cluster of cumulus rise
heavily heavenward, as if made
to tread the atmosphere
like waves of the sky,
moving across in ebb and flow,
provoking wonder to the skyward eye.

Rain comes in waves of the sky this evening. A grey cloud will announce itself with a crack of thunder and then open its gates. I welcome the pouring rain. Shuffling to my stove, I heat up some water for my tea.

I sit here at my table with the needed supplies of journal, book, tea, candle, and pen. Fat rain drops hit the awning and windows. The leaves drip and become weighed down by the heavy water after just a few minutes. The trunks of the trees darken as they soak and extend their roots. I could sit like this for hours, just enjoying the splendor of the atmosphere and the wonders of nature.

Green and leafy things are abundant in this summer season. As the humidity rises, the air feel heavy but the trees and plants continue to defy gravity as they rise higher into the sky.

What comforts do you take on a stormy evening? I think I often take after Snoopy and take up my pen (not a typewriter) to write on "a dark and stormy night". There is something to be said about the atmosphere as an inspiring catalyst for creative things. At least for me, it is. I think Snoopy agrees.

Courage from Jesus

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
“Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
“Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

Luke 11.37-53

I am reading through the gospels, and at Luke 11 I read alongside my cup of orange juice, and when I finished I reflected on how I felt amazed by the guts and gumption of Jesus who accepts the invitation of the Pharisees to dine. Jesus sits with them and insults them to their faces (in their view). He was pointing out their greedy hearts and ways of life. While he speaks truth, but I am struck by the courage Jesus had to face them and say the things that need to be said, but nobody else would dare to say. 

It is something to be said of our Lord, who not only cared for the children and the sick, but he cared for the souls of the spiritually dead and greedy hearts of those who solely followed laws and hardened their hearts. There was no room for compassion in their hearts, which Jesus sees, and he feels it.  He spent time with them on purpose. The Pharisees will, of course, accuse Jesus of all sorts of things, not wanting to look at themselves in an introspective manner at and how they need to change.

Does that feel familiar as we do not want to look at ourselves closely to see what we need to change? 

Could we sometimes act like a Pharisee? Indeed, we all do. We all need to take time of quiet reflection to gaze into our hearts. What is there? Bitterness? Envy? Selfishness? Greed? Snuff it out by recognizing it and choosing to go the other way.

Do we have courage to face ourselves and speak truth we need to hear? Let go of the things that hold us back from light and goodness. It is all too easy to become slaves to things, but Jesus is trying to always get us to let go of those chains to the world and the things bereft of truth and beauty. You will not be able to see any of the world as it was meant to be - as blessing and beauty, until the chains come undone.

Freedom for joyful obedience. All these things shall be added to us we shed them that bind us, to look clearly on the kingdom of God.

Do we dare to see the kingdom of God here and now? Jesus tells us (he told those in the 1st century) that the kingdom of God was at hand. They would see it before they died. Meaning, New Creation was to begin with Jesus's death and resurrection, so now the kingdom is here...

Why Write?

I hear dismay echoing off the air in this world today. As darkness covers our land in more ways than one dividing way, the rousing of people to live as if this is all there is now. Why does it matter to care for things of beauty and goodness? Just do what makes you happy, the world says. Do not bother with looking beyond oneself.

This raises so many questions in me. It just does not make sense. Why would we be given gifts and talents if we were not meant to use them, and share them? Why would we be given longings of good that we can produce works of light? I am not the best at sharing, but I have been better in the last several years with this blog, and self-publishing a few books. Maybe they only reach a few people, I do not know. But my job is to do my work, meaning use the gifts I have been graced with.

I write and read with hope and longing, devouring pages to gain knowledge, wisdom, and perspective. I read many genres in many different time periods as there is so much to wonder and learn about. I love books that point towards the direction of hope and goodness, even if the present is mingled with darkness. For it is our every day journey. 

We walk through troubled days, but this is not the end of the story. This is not where our Author pens the words “the end” and snaps the book shut. No. There are many unseen pages in this tale, and we are writing each new page - blank and open. But how will we choose to fill each page?

Concerning Trees

To lie by day in thy green shade,
And in thy hollow rest at night;
And through the open doorway see
The stars turn over leaves of light.

- W.H. Davies

I cannot help my love and appreciation for God's creative nature. Something in me draws me to the beauty and my soul longs for it. We tend to not pay attention to nature or trees as we go about our days. I find that when I pay attention to nature, I am calmer, more at peace, more thoughtful, and more focused.

Even if I do not have a real garden to tend I can enjoy the yard, appreciate the camphor trees in it, and I can have pots of plants along the stairs of my home, and all the sights and sounds of nature are always there. I can bring nature inside my home with plants and care for my fiddle leaf fig tree that is in my kitchen. These touches of greenery are a joy.

I admire the trees that provide shade and life-giving oxygen every moment. God's amazing creation placed us in a state of needing nature to nourish us. We need the trees to flourish if we want to breathe. The trees do not need us, but we need them.

So love the trees. They give us breath.

A couple books I recently read:

1. The Glorious Life of the Oak by John Lewis-Stempel

A beautiful telling of the oaks of Britain, which I think translates to all the world. Britain just has the most ancient of oaks (from the 900s). I am fascinated by trees, and learning about things of the woods. John writes beautifully, with sketches of a wood and its environs. I really enjoy good, poetic nature writing. I think I shall be reading much more of it.

An old oak is a character, which is why so many are named, and even visited by admirers, celebrated in song, portrayed in legend.

2. Reforesting Faith by Matthew Sleeth, MD

I will always forever now notice all the trees, branches, and fruit mentioned throughout Scripture. Matthew points out how all the significant characters and events throughout the Bible mention a tree (or part of a tree such as a branch) and there is meaning there. From the tree of life in the very beginning, to the cross that Jesus was crucified upon, to the trees of life bearing fruits all twelve months of the year on either side of the river of life in New Creation,  it is all there, right in front of us to see how important trees are to our life and beyond.

Trees have a way of bridging generations, connecting us with the past and inviting us to dream of the future. When we plant and tend trees, we imitate God.

Reading from The Return of the King

This short passage from The Return of the King , the last of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (you can listen to me read it, below) is a refreshment given by the rightful king of men, Aragorn, who comes back from battle of the Pelennor Fields with the intent to heal, and not to take over rule just because he is the rightful king. He stays outside the city in a tent, not wanting to enter the city until the fate of Mordor is determined (Frodo's journey is still in play). He wishes not to impose himself but to be welcomed in by the lord of the city when the time is proper. 

He comes into the city humbly only agreeing to go to the houses of healing, seeking to share his healing gifts. His presence and his skills in healing with herbs and the Elvish tradition brings light and joy to all who are in the Houses of Healing, in the great city of Minith Tirith.

When we use our gifts for the good of others, hearts lighten and and fragrance in the air is healing. This short passage reminds me of that.

I thought it would be fun to record a reading from The Return of the King. If you need some refreshment, may this little passage bring a moment of sweetly scented air to a troubled world. 

If you like this reading and would like more in the future, let me know (I am just experimenting)!

Muddy Musings · The Houses of Healing, J.R.R. Tolkien